


Rabbit Hole

by undertale



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 16:04:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5297540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undertale/pseuds/undertale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the monsters were victorious. They sealed the humans underground with a magic spell. Many years later, legends say that those who climb Mt. Ebott never return.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rabbit Hole

Even the monsters know that their winning of the war was a fluke.

The entire thing was ridiculous to begin with; the idea that a monster could even beat a human in a fight is preposterous. All the monsters on the planet working together would barely be able to challenge one human, let alone there be a war deciding the fate of either.  Humans have a certain characteristic to them that is held by no other monster. This is a given, something excepted in the natural world.  The will to keep living. The resolve to change fate. The ability to persist after death. There are numerous names for this power that humans possess, but many monsters have decided on the plain name of Determination.

Humans hate to claim Determination’s existence, saying that their prodigious aptitude for such things as war or spirit is something that is found in people as they have humanity, not because they have any form of upper hand over monsters. It is almost a humorous debate, monsters and humans talking about the science of it all. Biologically speaking, humans are far more concrete than monsters. Their souls are incredibly strong, similar to their body, almost like they are tied down to the world. Monsters, on the other hand, are made almost completely up by magic, their souls being far weaker. Still, it was not until after the war that such a tangible thing as Determination was founded.

It has always been around, since the beginning of both the races. It is something so sensitive and hard to study that any evidence of its existence at all was hard to come by. That is, until the Royal Scientist found Determination while studying the bodies of deceased humans. The physical presence of Determination is hard to explain, but its effects are powerful, something that nearly destroys monsters when they come in contact. The entire study was supposed to be conducted to further understand humans and their ways, but it was far too dangerous to  continue, so the king of the monsters decided to halt all studies, claiming that he rather have the concept of Determination be one of mystery than have monsters being hurt in the name of science. Many thought he said this to be nice, but the question really was whether or not he was simply skeptical of science. So many rather rely on magic.

Magic is not a problem in the hands of humans; it enhances their abilities to conquer and destroy. For monsters, it is all they have. Their entire being is made from it, so to simply use more barely has no use. There had been steady pushing to further explore areas of science, to give monsters the ability to finally be able to beat humans in a fight, but after the monsters locked all the humans Underground, beneath the giant hole in the mouth of Mt. Ebott, all monsters lost interest, saying that the humans had no chance to possibly escape, so there was no reason to dabble in science anymore. Luckily, there is still a program, as having a world completely devoid of science is not pragmatic, but the king is extremely wary of it, rarely ever checking on its progress in fear that something as terrible as the monster amalgams will occur again. The Royal Scientst promises that that was only one instance and to find the entire program on one mistake is foolish, but society stays pessimistic.

Stories claim that the defeat of humans was all thanks to the National Guard and the sheer, magical will of monsters, but no one who was alive at the time believes that. Luckily, everyone who was alive is much older and knows better than to speak on how the monsters really won. This is because, if the general population knew, it would cause a bit of a panic in the community. Humans are a dastardly race, capable of heinous crimes and terror that no monster can even wrap their head around, so if everyone knew that any day they could escape the barrier, there would be definite civil unrest.

Basically, the humans were tricked. The head of the Royal Guard devised a trap, saying that the monsters were gathering in the Underground, safe from the humans. Not only this, but they also were going to be able to attack humans from the ground up, leading to all sorts of surprise ambushes. The humans’ went into frenzy, all rushing to the Underground, excited to annihilate the entirety of the monsters’ army and populace. When they all gathered beneath the Earth, the monsters trapped them. A spell of magic was conjured up, something that was purely monster. Something that not even the most determined human could escape. The monsters did not necessarily win any kind of battle, but they did win the war. That is all that matters.

That is what all the monsters who know the truth tell themselves. Despite all knowledge on humans and their incredible ability to be persistent and ruin nearly everything, there is no way that they can escape a magical trap. It is nearly terrifying to think about it, a race that is biologically better and has a capacity to destroy everything in their way, to even start a war against a race that wanted nothing of it. Against a race that lives and thrives in peace and harmony with everything. It really shows who the real fiend is. One race challenging war over another. One race with the ability to fight after death challenging war over another who turns to dust after a blow too strong. Determination challenging war over confusion. The whole thing is fixed. It all results in genocide. For those who know the truth. For those who know that all the humans are trapped below the earth and training to escape. For all those who know that humans were never beat but rather scammed into traveling into their own trap. For all those who know of how terribly homicidal humans really are. Those are the ones who stay up at night, panicking at every sound in the wind, afraid that the humans have escaped.

Now, though, such thoughts are not commonplace as enough time has passed to where the general population does not know about the truth of the war. Many go about their regular lives and are able to go days without even thinking about the entire race trapped below them. Much has changed since the war, but the ideals stay the same. Monsters may not have Determination as the humans do, but they still have a soul, no matter how naturally weak it may be. They may not have much soul, but they still have what makes up all monsters: love, mercy, and compassion.

At the top of Mt. Ebott, four monsters climb. Two of them look fairly similar, both resembling skeletons. One is much shorter than the other, wearing a jacket, shorts, and thongs. The other’s outfit is much less casual and hard to explain. He has a long, red cap and gloves, matched only with boots of similar color. Not only this, but he wears a wide, puppy-like smile that seems to take in the entire world eagerly while his assumed brother has a cool, half grin on, looking to almost be too lazy to extend fully across his face. The third companion looks like none of the others, resembling a dinosaur in a lab coat. She wears big, circular glasses and has a long pointed tail along with spikes on her head. Hiking at the head of the group is someone in fairly casual attire and an eye patch. Her oddity is that she has two long fins extending from her head and a spear over her shoulder.

They all are friends, talking and joking as they reach the very top of the mountain. Despite how much of a taboo it is to actually descend to the top of Ebott, they all are incredibly calm about it.

“I change my mind.” The one in the lab coat exclaims. She holds a thick box in her arms; it has several dials and speakers. None of the others fully understand what exactly it is supposed to do. “I do not want to be here. I do NOT want to be here.”

Another laughs, pointing her spear at her companion, it glows on cue. “Alphys, you’re the one who wanted to come in the first place.”She turns to the skeleton brothers. “Come on Paps, back me up.”

The taller skeleton flexes. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, KNOW NOT OF FAILURE.” He pauses for a moment and narrows his eyes, almost looking off in the distance dramatically. “ALSO, UNDYNE PROMISED THAT THIS WOULD BE GOOD TRAINING TO BE A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD AND SANS HASN’T HUNG OUT WITH ME IN A WEEK, SO THIS IS REALLY GOOD BROTHER BONDING TIME.”

“we hung out yesterday at grillby’s.” The other skeleton responds gruffly, presumably Sans. He does not say anything else, focused more on the climb than anything. Oddly enough, though, despite his apparent laziness and persistent need to stop every fifteen minutes to take a break, he seems to be hiking ahead of everyone. Undyne makes sure to step up in front whenever she notices that someone else is in front of her, but the thought is all the same. He is purposely getting ahead of everyone without breaking a sweat. Not only that, but he walks directly in front of his brother when he does so, kicking all sorts of rocks and other miscellaneous items out of their way.

“THAT DOESN’T COUNT” He barks back. “WE ALWAYS GO TO GRILLBY’S. WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ELSE; WE NEED TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE TO EAT THAT DOESN’T ONLY SERVE BURGERS AND FRIES.”

“you know almost everything goes right through me.” He laughs lightly as his brother groans loudly at his pun.

“I don’t care about the Royal Guard or Grillby’s!” Alphys shouts from the back of the pack, sweating profusely. Papyrus sends her a look. “Well, okay, I care about the Royal Guard, but I just don’t care about it very much right now. I’m glad all of you joined me to climb up here.” She pauses for a moment, turning red. “Although, I only did invite Undyne. But I don’t really want to reach the top anymore.”

“I thought you said you wanted to survey some humans?” Undyne shouts excitedly; she spins back around to face the path once again to see that they are now incredibly close to the gaping mouth at the top of the mountain.

Alphys turns brighter red. “You don’t care about surveying the humans! All you want to do is yell at some from afar!”

“Humans suck. They deserve to know it.” Undyne smiles triumphantly forward, stabbing the air playfully with her spear. “You should know that more than anyone, Royal Scientist. Didn’t you do some tests on the humans that escaped the barrier?”

Alphys holds her box tightly against her chest, almost as if it protects her from the conversation. “I’m not a mad scientist.” She whispers quietly, more for herself than anyone else. She nods firmly after another pause. “We just need to further understand the mechanics of humans, so technically yes, I-”

“LOOK!” Papyrus runs past the front of the group and continues jogging along. Alphys exhales a sigh of relief, the spotlight being off of her for the time being. “IT’S THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN! LOOK HOW BIG IT IS!”

Undyne and Sans both have to quicken in speed to catch up with Papyrus, who is merrily on his way. By doing so, Alphys goes into a panic, rushing forward and trying to keep up while carrying her box. They look like quite the group. The head of the Royal Guard. The Royal Scientist. A lazy skeleton with too many jobs. And a spaghetti enthusiast.

“You guys!” Alphys calls out. “C’mon, slow down! You know that I can’t run very fast!”

Papyrus is the first to stop. He makes it seem quite dramatic. Then again, everything he does seems to look incredibly dramatic. All he does is stand there, at the mouth of the mountain’s gaping hole, and stare down into it. There is not even a touch of malice is his gaze; he just is filled to the brim with curiosity. He was too young to understand the war when it was happening, so any memories of the humans are fleeting. But, here he stands, resembling a child at a zoo, waiting for their favorite animal to come out and play.

It is hard to see down the bottom of the hole as how far down the drop is, but what can be made out is an isolated camp. Dozens of tents are laid out under the now setting sun. This is the only place in humanity’s entire domain that can nearly see natural sunlight and as of now, the sun is setting. It adds an eerie feel to the camp, lanterns beginning to shine through the tents as it gets darker and darker. It leaves the question of exactly where the humans are and if they will return by the time the sun is completely hidden behind the mountain.

 “THERE ARE NO HUMANS!” Papyrus almost whines. He crouches on his knees and grabs the edge of the hole, peering over. Half of his body looms over the edge.

When Undyne catches up, she seems gloom, too. “Yeah, I know the feeling.” She pats him firmly on the back several times, so that he has to tighten his grip on the ledge to ensure his place on it. “Well, climbing this mountain was still good training. You are getting stronger every day.”

“i’m surprised you’re not bone tired.” Sans smiles and winks at his brother, who leans back from the ridge and sits back on his butt. He seems to almost flinch at the pun while Undyne lets out a howl of laughter, still peering into the abyss.

Alphys is still attempting to catch up with everyone and quickens in speed by doing so. Blindly running, she only focuses on catching up and holding her box. Little does she notice when she actually does reach everyone else at the ridge and when she does, it is too late.

“No!” She simply screams, not able to stop herself when she comes barreling into Papyrus. Her body does not yield and she is sent flying over the unknowing skeleton. Since she reached a high velocity, the obstacle did not cause her to collapse on her face, but much worse. It sent her flying. This is unfortunate when there is no place to find footing above a gaping hole in a mountain.

Papyrus is the first to catch wind of what is happening as he was knocked in the head and brought to attention. So, when Alphys begins to fall down the hole, he is the one to react. He stands up in a flash and grabs onto her foot. For a moment, all seems well, until she swings back to him; this unbalanced weight sends him over the edge as well.

“papyrus!” Sans shouts, running to the edge. He stares down and watches his brother as he falls down, attached to Alphys. “let go of her, papyrus.”

Unfortunately, he does not hear over the sound of Alphys screams.

Undyne is the next to make a move, she jumps willingly into the cave. Then, she spins around and stabs the wall with her spear, using it to drag her down the wall. She quickly passes the duo and then stops. She holds on with one arm and extends out with the other, expecting to catch them. When they do reach her, she is able to hold them for a moment, but the rubble beneath the spear gives out due to the weight and they all begin to tumble down together.

Then, for a split second, they are all weightless, all hovering over in the abyss. They all glow a light blue and begin to glide back up the hole. Then, for whatever reason, Sans comes flying down the hole as well, and crashes into them. Now, they are falling quicker and harder than before.

“Alphys!” Undyne shouts. “Drop the box. It only helps gain speed. If we want to survive the fall, you have to lose it.”

“Oh my God!”

Alphys flips a few switches and there is a bright flash.


End file.
